Salut Georgio,
voici quelques nouvelles de votre ami le canard gonflable et les commentaires que son ixième coup de mou a suscité sur un réseau social chinois (Weibo).
PS On se souvient du même événement vers Nantes en 2007et Sidney
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
The most frequently searched for term on Weibo today was the Rubber Duck created by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman. The Rubber Duck, a 16.5 meter high, air-filled yellow mock duck, was initially launched in waters off the coast of France in 2007, and has since made tours to arts festivals around the globe, including Sydney, Osaka and Sao Paolo. According to the project's description on Hofman's website, the Rubber Duck "knows no frontiers, does not discriminate people and does not have a political connotation." On the evening of 14 May, the Rubber Duck began to deflate in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, leading netizens on the mainland and in Hong Kong to respond en masse. While harbour authorities promptly reassured those concerned that the duck was merely "taking a nap," netizens continued to speculate about the reasons for the duck's unexpected deflation.
While the Rubber Duck in fact deflated due to several punctures, scores of netizens concluded that the duck had indeed succumbed to the most recent H7N9 strain of avian influenza.[1] One commentator remarked with a sense of wit: "Before, there was the bird flu, now there is a giant yellow duck. It seems that birds are getting more and more confused."[2] After witnessing the deflation of the duck, "avian influenza now seems truly frightening," another offered.[3] Others argued, in reference to the recent death of an employee at Ogilvy due to overworking, that on account of the fact that the Rubber Duck had been "working" for more than ten consecutive days, it was logical that it had "passed away".[4]
In light of the Duck's deeper artistic purpose to confront viewers with a sense of innocence in a chaotic, troubled world, yet others issued more serious responses, noting under images of the duck before and after its deflation that "our country truly is a paradise for destroying childhood."[5] The often tense relations between mainlanders and residents of Hong Kong were also subject of some netizen commentary. The Rubber Duck's deflation is "hardly due to pollution", as some had proposed. Rather, "according to (my) information, about 30 people threw cigarette butts at the duck and caused it to rupture. I guess Hong Kong residents must loathe the nonsense-talk of mainlanders…"[6]
The Rubber Duck is due to remain in Hong Kong for at least another two weeks before resettling in another location.
[1]禽流感太强大了
[2]前有禽流感，后有大黄鸭，鸡越来越不好混了哇
[3]小编只想说，禽流感真是太可怕了
[4]又一个过劳死，鸭鸭你太辛苦了
[5]来中国前的大黄鸭，来中国后的大黄鸭，我们国家果然是抹杀童年的天堂啊
[6]难道太过霸气终将侧漏吗。。。据说被人扔了30多个烟头轰炸的结果。。。估计是港人厌恶内地人者的瞎扯吧